Kobayakawa Hideaki's Encampment Site

Local history covering 6 eras from prehistoric to contemporary.

On opposite sides of the train tracks, two shrines commemorate the sites where two large mounds of the severed heads of fallen soldiers were buried. As per traditional Japanese concepts of reverence for the dead, these shrines are dedicated to all who fell in the battle, not solely forces of one side.

Ukita Hideie from Bizen Province (present-day Okayama), served as Vice Commander of the Western army, and brought the largest army on the Western Front, consisting of over 17,000 soldiers. Hideie was able to escape the battle and travel all the way to Satsuma Province (Kagoshima) before eventually being apprehended. He was spared a death sentence but was exiled to Hachijojima where he spent the rest of his life.

Sekigahara was one of the post towns along the Nakasendo. The honjin was a designated inn where passing daimyo and other important officials would stay. Like most of the honjin, the building no longer exists. On its former site there is a marker and a tree that stood in the front garden. The rest of the former honjin now contains Hachiman Shrine. The gate of Sekigahara's honjin is preserved in the neighboring town of Tarui at Honryuji Temple.

Every post town had a wakihonjin which was an inn used for daimyo when the honjin could not be used, when more than one daimyo were staying, or for lower-level vassals who could not stay in the honjin. Wakihonjin were also available for the public to stay in when daimyo were not here. The wakihonjin no longer exists, but a replica of the gate was built here with a signpost. There is an additional signpost marking the birthplace of the Priest Shido Munan (至道無難禅師生誕地) who was a Zen master during the Edo Period.

A marker dedicated to where the first shots of the battle were fired. It also has benches and information boards that detail the order of battle and positions.